You're My Sweetheart
by QuietLittleVoices
Summary: Dean meets farm boy Castiel while doing his delivery rounds. ((Dean/Cas Historical AU - approx. 1910))


Dean took a deep breath and tried to square his shoulders, feeling like he was drowning in his hand-me-down suit. He glanced back at the road to see John waiting in their wood cart, old and painted with the logo of _Winchester and Son Seeds_. Their last name was slowly flaking off but the '_and Son' _was bright and new.

With renewed confidence, Dean knocked on the farmhouse door. It was noon, so the whole family should be in – and he couldn't see anyone in the fields that stretched on behind the house. He only had to wait a moment for the door to be opened by a boy about his age, skinnier than he was – all knobby elbows and knocking knees, with black hair and blue eyes.

The boy – Dean knew he was a Novak, but he didn't know which one exactly – looked at him curiously. "Who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Dean Winchester," he said. "I'm with Winchester and Son Seeds – your family ordered corn seeds from us and I'm here to deliver them."

"I'll get my father," the boy told him, nodding. He then turned from the door and took two steps into the house before yelling '_Dad!'_. There was a quick stomping of feet and then a very large man was walking into Dean's admittedly small field of vision.

Mr Novak smiled at his son. "Alright, Castiel; I'm here. What do you need?"

"There's a boy at the door who says he has the corn seeds," the boy, Castiel, said.

"Good! We can plant those this afternoon. Go finish lunch, now, alright?"

Castiel nodded, then turned back to look at Dean. "Bye!" he said with a wave, then disappeared into the house.

Mr Novak moved forwards and opened the door all the way, grinning at Dean. "My boy tells me you have seeds for us?"

Dean nodded stiffly, confused at the easy interaction between father and son. It wasn't at all something that he was familiar with. "Corn seeds, sir." Dean reached into his bag and pulled out the small pouch. "There you are. Would you like to order something more?"

He accepted the bag graciously and pondered the question. "Yes," he answered finally. "Could we purchase apple seeds?"

"Yes, sir! We can get them here in two weeks. Is that alright?"

Mr Novak grinned. "Perfect. Have a good day, you hear?"

Dean nodded again. "Yes, sir, and you." Unsure of what to do after that, he turned on his heel and walked back to his father, hearing the door click shut behind him. He spared a glance backwards and saw the curtain in the big front window flutter – and it might have been his imagination, but he was fairly certain that he saw a flash of black hair before the curtain fell back into place.

Two weeks later, Dean returned to the Novak farm, carrying his bag of seeds. He hoped, secretly, that he would get to see Castiel again, but he tried not to get his hopes up. It was useless to have pretended, though, when the door was yanked open as soon as he'd knocked by none other than the dark haired boy.

"Hi," Dean said, a small smile working its way onto his face.

Castiel looked breathless, like he'd run to the door. And maybe he had. "Hello, Dean," he replied. Suddenly, his face broke into a large grin. "It's good to see you again."

"You, too."

They smiled at each other for a few moments before Castiel snapped out of it. "You have… apple seeds, correct?"

Dean almost jumped, startled as he was to remember that _oh, yeah, you came here for a reason, you idiot._ Mumbling an apology, he reached into his bag and pulled out the small pouch labelled _Novak_. "Here you go." He shoved the bag into Castiel's hands.

"Do you need to speak with my father?" Castiel glanced down at the bag in his hands, weighing it in his hands, and then glanced back up to meet Dean's eyes.

The taller boy swallowed around a lump in his throat and nodded. "Yeah – I mean, yes, please. If it's – if that's alright, I mean."

Castiel nodded. "It's no problem. I'll get him." Just like the time before, Castiel barely walked into the house before calling for his father. When the man came out, Castiel showed him the seeds, making Mr Novak grin. Castiel then walked further into the house and his father came to the door.

"What can I do for you?" he asked, still grinning. "You already gave Cas there the seeds."

"I just wanted to ask if you wanted any more seeds."

Mr Novak got a thoughtful look on his face before shaking his head. "Not right now, sorry." Dean tried to not let his disappointment show, but then the man was talking again. "If you want, though – and I mean, if it's okay with your old man – I think Cas would really like it if you came over on Sunday morning and went to church with us."

Dean was nodding before he'd even finished the request. "Yes! Yes, I can come. What – what time would you like me here?"

"We leave around eight, so any time before then."

"I'll be here," he promised.

It was only four days before Dean found himself standing outside the Novak farm in a nice suit on a Sunday morning.

His dad didn't _do_ church, in general. But his mother had, before she'd passed away, and Sammy, his kid brother, was into it, too. Dean was more like his father when it came to religion – he figured there were bigger problems going on on the ground and he might as well not waste his time trying to figure out if there was anything over the clouds.

He decided that it was best not to tell the Novaks his thoughts.

Feeling awkward and exposed without his burlap seed bag, he knocked on the door. It was answered by a redheaded girl about his age wearing a nice, though plain, dress. "Who are you?" she asked with a distrusting scowl.

"Uh… Dean," he answered, already thinking of ways to gracefully make his exit and go back home to hide in shame for the rest of his life.

But, as he said his name, her eyes widened. "_You're_ Dean! He did say you were –"

She was cut off by a new voice, familiar to Dean this time. "Anna!" said Cas, walking in behind his sister and pulling her away.

With a mischievous grin, she ran back into the house with a call of '_Dean's here!_'

Dean and Cas stood on opposite sides of the threshold, awkwardly trying to look anywhere but at the other and blushing furiously.

"I'm sorry about my _younger_ twin," Cas said with a breathless laugh.

Dean shook his head. "It's alright; I have a younger brother."

That made Castiel laugh, a pure and beautiful sound. Dean wanted to hear that laugh forever. "Just one?" Cas said. "Try five, and four sisters."

Dean smiled. "That must be loud."

"You'll see. It's not like anything you've seen before, I promise." He finally stepped back and gestured in. "We're almost ready to leave, you can wait with me," he said. Dean followed him into the large farm house, much bigger than the townhouse that he lived in with his dad and Sam in the city.

Cas lead him to a sitting room and they both sat on the aged and faded sofa, uncomfortable as it was. But they turned to face each other at the same time, and that's when Dean finally noticed something was wrong about Castiel's appearance.

"Your tie's on backwards," Dean told him.

The boy glanced down. "Oh. It is. I should go find mother and have her fix it."

He started to get up but Dean stopped him. "No! I can do it for you here. If that's okay, I mean."

Cas smiled. "Of course. Please."

With practised fingers, Dean untied the backwards knot and then re-tied the neck piece. When he was done, he flattened it out, and then ran his fingers unnecessarily around the collar of Cas' shirt as if he was straightening it.

There was a cough to Dean's left and they jumped apart like children caught with their hands in the cookie jar. They looked over to see Anna standing there with an air of impatience.

"We're ready to go," she informed them, then she turned on her heel and walked out, leaving them to collect themselves before following her.

Mr and Mrs Novak did a roll call in the street outside their house before heading off to the church with their children in tow like ducklings waddling off to the pond. Dean stood next to Castiel, glancing over at him at regular intervals. Once, he thought he caught Cas looking at him, but he was sure he'd only imagined it.

The church was a small building made of wood. It looked to Dean as if a stiff breeze could knock it over, but he filed in silently with the rest of the congregation. The pews were completely full and he ended up sitting right in the middle on the left side, squished in close next to Cas. He gave the other boy a shy smile before fixing his eyes on the priest up front, who lead them in Hymns and prayers before reading passages from the bible and leaving Dean with no different views on religion than the ones he had held the day previous.

After the service, they went back to the Novak farm for a big lunch, still dressed in their fancy clothes. Dean found himself seated on an old stool between Cas and Anna, and across from one of Cas' older brothers, Gabriel.

During the mean, they laughed more than Dean had ever seen his own family laugh – not since his mother's death, anyway. No one laughed in his house anymore, but the Novaks were free and candid with their joy. It made him smile and want to laugh along with them, even though he didn't understand all the stories and jokes they told.

He was sad when it came time to go, not wanting to leave the small sphere of joy and go back to his family and their long, dull silences.

Castiel walked him to the door. Just as he was stepping out onto the front porch, Cas cleared his throat, so Dean stopped and turned back around.

"Would you, uh…" Cas stopped and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Did you enjoy this morning?"

Dean smiled. "Yes, I did."

Cas shifted awkwardly. "I was wondering if, maybe… the next time you come around to deliver seeds you'd like to maybe, stay a while?" he glanced up at Dean now and then away again very quickly. "I don't really have many friends but you're interesting and I think I'd like to get to know you," he admitted in a rush.

"Yes," Dean answered quickly. "Yes, I'll stay next time I come around. Or… I could come over sooner? Your father's pumpkin seeds won't come in for another month, after all…."

Castiel was nodded quickly. "Sooner, please. Wednesday?"

"Wednesday," Dean agreed with a grin. He couldn't wait.

The days dragged on as Dean made his normal rounds delivering seeds and taking care of the shop in the city. Whenever he passed the Novak's farm he had to restrain himself from stopping in – his only incentive being that he would be visiting again on Wednesday.

And then finally the day was there. Dean still had his deliveries to make, but when he finished he rushed to the farm and knocked enthusiastically. One of Castiel's younger sisters, a petite brunet with big blue eyes like her brother, answered the door and stared up (and up and up) at him before turning into the house, much like Cas had before, and bellowing her brothers' name.

Castiel came running down the stairs, nearly toppling his sister over as he moved her out of the way. "Hello, Dean," he greeted, pushing his dark hair out of his eyes in a failed attempt at nonchalance.

Dean couldn't help his laughter at the display, though he tried to hide it behind his hand. "Hi, Cas."

"Do you want to come in?" he asked.

"Yeah – yeah I'd like that."

Castiel lead Dean into the large, cheerful kitchen. "Would you like, uh, lemonade?" Cas asked, suddenly shy.

Dean nodded. "Yeah, sure – I mean, please."

Cas grabbed two mugs and filled them from a jar in the icebox. Now armed with their mugs, Castiel lead them out to the back porch where they sat on the step side by side and drank their lemonade. Dean could feel Cas pressed against his side and tried his hardest to not lean into the warmth.

"How long have you been working under your father?" Cas asked when their glasses were half empty.

"Your farm was my first delivery with him. Now he lets me go alone and takes care of the shop all day. Our business has gone up a lot; which is good for us, I guess, but it means I have more deliveries." Dean laughed awkwardly when he realized how much he was talking. "How, uh… how long have you been working on the farm?"

Cas shrugged. "Not sure. At least two seasons, I think."

"Do you like it?"

"Enough. I won't inherit the farm, so I'm going to school to try and find another job for later in life. Do you like working for _your_ father?"

Dean considered the question. "I like the work but it's hard working for my dad. My, uh, my mom died about a year ago and it's been hard for us – especially dad. I'll probably take over for him when he retires; Sammy, that's my younger brother, is in school and I think he's on his way to some big, important job. He's smart, like – like really smart." Dean glanced over at Cas and saw that the dark haired boy was smiling fondly at him. "What're you lookin' at?" he grumbled, turning away.

Castiel shifted to jostle Dean lightly and get him to look back over. "It's nothing; you just look happy when you talk about your brother. It's nice."

Dean shifted to push Cas back and it devolved into a shoving match, which Dean ultimately lost and ended up on his back on the ground. Not to be put down so easily, he grabbed for Cas and used his momentum to yank Cas down with him so that they ended up chest-to-chest laying in the dirt, faces inches from each other. Dean felt his face heat up so he tried to disguise it by rolling Cas over and getting back onto the porch.

"I guess that means I won," Cas said with a grin.

Dean rolled his eyes and picked back up his lemonade from where he'd set it down before the game had started. "I'll get you back some day," Dean promised, taking a sip out of his glass.

"I'd like to see you try." Cas sat down next to him comfortably, grabbing his own mug and taking a sip.

"Oh, you will."

Dean visited the Novak farm nearly every day for the rest of the summer, even after they no longer needed seeds. Cas was the first friend he'd ever really had apart from Sam, but Dean knew there was more to it than that – he knew that he found Cas attractive, ever since their first meeting, but after getting to really know him, it was so much more. He didn't say anything, though, to risk it coming between them. But, sometimes, when they were just sitting quietly together, he almost thought Cas was watching him, too.

It all broke down for Dean on the last day of August, right before Cas was going back to school and wouldn't be able to be with Dean as much. They hugged on the front porch as Dean was supposed to be leaving.

"I'll miss you," Cas murmured. "I know we'll still see each other a lot but… it's different."

Dean nodded. "Me, too."

They broke apart and stood watching each other for a minute before someone inside called Cas' name and he sighed. "I guess I should go back now. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Yeah, see you…." He trailed off, but then as Cas was closing the door he couldn't help but blurt out, "I love you." Immediately, he turned on his heel and ran away, before he could even see Cas' face.

When Dean got home, he went straight through the shop – ignoring both his father and Sam – and threw himself on his bed, regretting every decision he'd ever made.

He didn't want to get out of bed the next day but he did, and set to doing his delivery rounds. He took a long route to avoid the Novak farm, even though he knew Cas wouldn't be there. All his efforts were in vain, however, when he ran into Cas in the city.

Cas was walking around looking confusedly at every building, appearing to be overwhelmed. Dean tried to hide, but Cas spotted him and ran over.

"Why did you leave yesterday?" Cas asked breathlessly.

Dean looked away, shifting awkwardly. "Can we pretend that didn't happen?" he responded, avoiding answering the question.

Cas shook his head. "I've been walking around here for hours looking for your shop, so no. Why did you leave?"

"Because you don't feel the same? I don't wanna stop being your friend 'cause of some dumb feelings, Cas," he muttered, looking to the ground as if praying for it to open up and swallow him whole.

"Why do you always assume things like that, Dean?"

That made him look up, meeting Cas' smiling eyes for the first time. "What?"

"I wanted to tell you yesterday – I love you, too."

Dean grinned widely. "Really?"

"Really," Cas answered, nodding enthusiastically.

"Can I – I mean, can I kiss you?"

Dean barely had the question out before Cas was leaning towards him, pressing their lips together.


End file.
